Shot Me Down
by xTroublesomePersonx
Summary: One-shot. Sakura just wanted a date with Sasuke at long last, but of course he shot her down as he always did. Perhaps it was time for Sakura to try something new? Shikamaru/Sakura.


**Shot Me Down**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. I own nothing. I wish, though!

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Sakura bounced fretfully as she stood outside the ramen stand, waiting for the rest of her friends to show up. Her green eyes switched between her best friend, and the handsome, raven-haired boy standing nearby. He had been standing there, leaning nonchalantly against the building, when Sakura and her friend had shown up. Sakura wasn't sure if he had even seen that she was standing there. She doubted that he had noticed she was glancing at him. Or maybe he just didn't care.

"Sakura?"

Sakura was pulled out of her thoughts, as her best friend waved a hand in front of her with an irritated expression. "Hmm?" Sakura asked, still somewhat preoccupied. "What is it, Ino?"

Ino put her hands in her sides. "You're not even listening to me!" she complained in a frustrated voice, but then sighed. "Why don't you just go and ask Sasuke out once and for all?"

Sakura almost had a heart attack. "Ino!" she hissed under her breath. "Not so loud! And are you crazy? I can't just go up and ask him out!"

"Why?" Ino asked.

She stared at her best friend with wide eyes. "What if he rejects me?"

Ino sighed once more. "You're such a coward." She flicked her long, blonde hair. "It's really not that hard."

"Oh, yeah?" Sakura crossed her arms. "Then why don't you try asking someone out?" she challenged.

"Fine," Ino said. She looked around, scanning the ground for someone suitable, but coming up empty. Sakura smirked, thinking that she had won. But just in that second, Naruto came into view.

"Ah!" Ino's face lit up. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted: "Hey, Naruto!" The blonde waved. "Do you want to go out with me this weekend?"

All eyes on the street turned to her. Sakura face palmed. Naruto skidded to a stop in the middle of the road in surprise. But then he seemed to shake it off, started walking again, and shouted: "Sure! That sounds fun!"

Ino turned back to Sakura, smirking in victory. "See?" she said. "I told you. It's not that hard."

"That's not fair," Sakura mumbled, blushing from her friend's lack of inhibitions. "Naruto doesn't count…"

"Oh, really?" Ino lifted an eyebrow. "And why the hell not?" She eyed the blonde knucklehead, as he approached them. "I know he used to be a total piece of work when he was younger, and in some ways, I guess he still is, but…" A grin spread across her face. "You have to admit that he's grown up to be quite a hunk!"

Sakura shot her friend a skeptical glance and looked at Naruto, who was jogging towards them. It looked like he had more or less just come out of the shower, his blonde hair glistening with water, wet strands of it bouncing off his forehead in accord with his movements. The contrast between his blonde hair, sun kissed skin, and bright blue eyes made his eyes pop, glisten, and sparkle. The whole look was, however, pretty much ruined by his orange jumpsuit, which he unfortunately still seemed insistent on wearing at all times.

Sakura furrowed her brows, turning back to Ino with a suspicious look in her eyes. "That might be…" she said slowly, still a bit confused as to how Ino could think of Naruto as good-looking. Something just did _not _sit right with that one. "But Naruto would probably agree to go out with practically anyone." She blushed. "And besides, even if he hadn't agreed to go out with you, you wouldn't mind it that much… After all, you're not in love with Naruto!"

Ino shrugged. "Sure I would. It would certainly hurt my pride, if Naruto of all people turned me down." Sakura rolled her eyes, as Ino continued. "Plus, you didn't say that I had to ask out someone I'm interested in." She raised an eyebrow, looking over at Sasuke who was still standing solely at the other end of the building, looking as brooding as ever. "You know, if I'd had to choose someone I was in love with, the closest candidate would still probably be…"

"Okay, okay!" Sakura interrupted her friend, her cheeks burning. "Naruto counts! You win! It's fine!" Ino smirked, once again victorious.

Apart from Naruto, Neji, Lee, and Tenten had also showed up during Sakura's and Ino's arguing. The four newcomers had formed a circle next to the two frenemies, chatting lightly.

"Hey, Tenten!" Ino suddenly called. The brunette turned around with a smile.

"Hi, Ino," she greeted the girls, approaching them. "Hi, Sakura. What's up?"

"Sakura wants to ask Sasuke out, but she's afraid that he might reject her," Ino explained bluntly. Sakura scowled at her, but Ino just ignored it and went on. "I've been trying to tell her that it's not that hard to ask someone out, but she doesn't believe me. I thought we should have another opinion."

Tenten tapped her chin. "Hmm…" she pondered. "I've never asked someone out, so I wouldn't know if it's easy…"

"Oh, it is," Ino said to Sakura's annoyance, waving her hand dismissively in the air. "You should try it!"

Tenten seemed to think about it for a moment, and then turned around and tapped Neji on the shoulder. "Neji?" she quired.

Neji turned around to face her, his expression wary, but polite. "Yes, Tenten?"

"Do you want to go out with me this weekend?" Tenten asked directly.

Neji blinked in surprise. "Uh…" He cleared his throat. "Alright."

Tenten thanked him, and then returned to the girls. "Right," she said. "I suppose it's fairly easy." Ino's lips curled into yet another smirk, her victorious streak continuing.

"See, Sakura?" the blonde said, turning around. "It really is easy." She raised a finger. "And you can't say that Neji doesn't count. He's almost as gloomy as Sasuke."

Sakura sighed, hanging her head. "I suppose so," she mumbled, once again glancing over at the guy in question. "But still…"

"Oh, come on, Sakura," Ino elbowed her. "Just go ask Sasuke if he wants to hang out this weekend." She raised an eyebrow in mockery. "And if that doesn't work out, you can always ask Shikamaru instead."

Sakura shook her head at the blonde. "Shikamaru?" she asked in confusion. "Why on earth would I ask him out?" Suddenly worrying that she might have offended Ino by seeming so unappreciative of her teammate, she quickly added: "I mean, he's a really nice guy, and we're good friends, and I like hanging out with him sometimes, but…"

Ino and Tenten exchanged glances. Sakura frowned. "What? What is it?"

"Shikamaru likes you," Ino blurted out. "Just the other day, he said that you weren't as troublesome as most girls. And I overheard him yesterday telling someone that he thinks you're pretty!"

Sakura blushed hard, but tried to keep her cool. "D-Did he now?" she asked, trying to sound unafflicted, which, however, was hard when she was completely taken by surprise. "T-That's nice…" She cleared her throat. "But I'm sure he was just being friendly."

Ino didn't look convinced. "That's not really his style," she said drily.

Sakura sent her an irritated look. "Shikamaru and I are just friends," she told the blonde. "He's like… Oh, I don't know. It's like with Naruto, or Sai, or even Kakashi-sensei! I really like him, but as a _friend_."

"Okay, okay," Ino said, shrugging. "That's up to you – but at least now you know your options." Ino had to fight yet another smirk threating to curl her lips. Secretly, she thought that Sakura and Shikamaru would be a good match. Plus, if Sakura and Shikamaru got together, it would finally put an end to the age-old rivalry for Sasuke. Not that Ino was that interested in Sasuke anymore, but she still couldn't help but wish that Sakura one day wouldn't be, either. It would certainly make their relationship less complicated, if none of them were to win – especially now that the prize was something entirely different from what it used to be.

A sort of plan emerged in Ino's head. Smiling rather deviously, she pushed Sakura in the direction of the stoic Uchiha. "Well, I've offered enough support now. I'm sick of you constantly worrying about whether Sasuke likes you or not. Now, just try and ask him out, already!"

Sakura scowled at her friend, but slowly made her way over to her crush. Sasuke looked up in surprise, as she approached him, blushing like a tomato.

"H-Hi, Sasuke," she greeted him a bit timidly.

"Hello, Sakura," Sasuke replied in a reserved manner. "Can I help you with something?"

"U-Uhm…" Sakura mumbled, fretting. "I-I was just wondering… if you would like to… do something together this weekend?"

Sasuke frowned. "Sorry," he told her, "but I have training this weekend."

"Oh, okay…" Sakura looked over her shoulder at her friends, her facial expression one of exasperation. She saw that Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Chouji, and Shikamaru had shown up now, too. Shikamaru appeared to be watching her in confusion. Not an emotion he often expressed. Sakura blushed even redder, thinking of what Ino had told her. Speaking of Ino, Sakura could see that Ino was waving her hands at her, as if encouraging her to keep trying. Tenten was backing her up, offering a thumbs-up.

Sakura turned back to Sasuke. She figured she might as well give it another try. It wasn't like he had said that he didn't want to go out with her at all. "Well, if this weekend isn't good," she tried, "what about next weekend?"

"Sorry," Sasuke told her again, his voice becoming cold. "But I'll be going out of town then."

"Ah, I see…" Sakura twirled her fingers nervously, a blush erupting over her cheeks. Still, he hadn't said that he didn't want to go out at all. And now that she thought about it, she remembered being told that he was, in fact, going on a mission then. Mustering up her last shred of courage, she tried once more. "Then what about tonight?" she asked. "We'll probably finish here early, and then we could…"

"No," Sasuke cut her off, his expression now unkind. "I can't tonight."

"Oh…" Sakura mumbled. The blush on her cheeks intensified, and her fingers stopped twirling, twisting together in a painful knot. She could tell that this wasn't going to work out. She would have to accept that Sasuke wasn't interested in going out with her. She might as well just give up.

"Okay." She forced herself to smile. "That's too bad…" She looked over her shoulder at her friends. Ino, Tenten, and Hinata were watching her with encouraging expressions. Shikamaru had stopped watching her to talk to some of the other guys, but as she glanced over her shoulder, he did the same, their eyes meeting for a moment. Shikamaru shot her a small smile, before returning to the other guys, and Sakura found herself smiling back.

She turned back to Sasuke. "I'm sorry it isn't going to work out," she told him. "But I suppose that's how it is." She forced herself to beam at him. "I-I guess I'll just ask someone else to go out with me then!" she said, flicking her pink hair, before walking back to her friends. If she had looked back, she would've seen her crush staring after her in perplexity. As Sakura walked away, Naruto came over to talk to Sasuke, looking between his two old teammates, scratching his neck in confusion.

"Sasuke rejected me," Sakura muttered to Ino, Tenten, and Hinata in a sad voice, as she walked back to them. She couldn't help feeling quite embarrassed that all of them had witnessed her failed attempt at getting Sasuke to go out with her.

"Oh, Sakura. That's too bad," Ino comforted her, patting her back. "But I think it's a good thing that you asked him. Now you finally know what the result is! Everything will be just fine. While you talked to Sasuke, the rest of us had a chance to talk about doing stuff together. Naruto, Tenten, Neji, Hinata, Kiba, and I are going out to eat ramen this weekend. You're welcome to join us."

"Thanks," Sakura said, looking up at her friend with a sheepish expression. "I would like that."

"It would be great if you could join us," Hinata told her in her sweet voice. "It's always more fun if we're all together."

Tenten frowned. "Are you sure?" she asked Sakura. "Won't it be lonely? You'll be the only one there without a date."

"Do you really have to rub it in that her attempt to ask Sasuke out was a complete and utter failure?" Ino reprimanded much too frankly.

Tenten held up her hands in front of her. "No, no," she defended herself. "I didn't mean it like that…"

"You should come whether or not you decide to bring someone," Hinata added, her voice becoming squeaky from the stress of the bickering taking place. "I-it's fine no matter what!"

"Don't worry about it, girls," Sakura interrupted them in a tired voice. "It's alright…"

She looked over at Kiba, Shino Neji, Shikamaru, and Chouji standing in a small circle next to her. Her eyes landed on Shikamaru's back. Now that she thought about it, it might not be completely weird to ask him to go out with her instead. He had always been nice to her. He was kind, smart, and funny. Plus, she had to admit, he wasn't too bad to look at.

She pondered it for a moment. She supposed that she could ask him. Unlike with Sasuke, she wasn't afraid to ask Shikamaru something like that. She found that she would definitely still prefer that he said yes, though. She didn't want to have to endure the humiliation of being rejected twice in one day. But more than that, she actually did want to try to go out with him. She was curious to find out if it was true that he really liked her… and whether she might like him back. At that thought, she could feel a small blush warming up her cheeks once again. No matter what, she seemed to be able to find more reasons to go for it than to leave it be, and that was generally a good sign.

She composed herself, straightened herself out, although she couldn't completely get rid of the small blush, and, to Ino's delight and Hinata's and Tenten's surprise, walked over to the boys, and tapped Shikamaru on the shoulder. "Shikamaru?" He turned around in surprise, a smile spreading on his lips.

"Hi, Sakura. How's it going?"

"All good," she answered somewhat impatiently. She cleared her throat. "Do you want to go out with me this weekend?" she asked him straightforwardly, trying to control the small blush colouring her cheeks.

Shikamaru's cheeks skipped three shades of pink and went straight to crimson. He had to clear his throat several times before he was able to reply. "Uh…" he mumbled. "T-That sounds kind of troublesome…

Sakura felt her face fall a little, something akin to disappointment creeping on to her.

Seeing that this was not clearly nhe response she had hoped for, Shikamaru quickly said: "But since it's you, I'll go."

Sakura lit up in a smile. "Great," she told him, trying to keep her cool, albeit she couldn't help the small blush on her cheeks deepen a little. "That's a date. The rest of the gang is coming, too. I'm sure it'll be fun!"

Shikamaru flashed a smile. "Okay, then," he said, sounding almost cheerful, which, if he really was, would truly be a first on his part. "I'm, uh, looking forward to it!"

"So am I."

With a big smile plastered onto her face, Sakura turned back to see Ino smirk shrewdly at her, Tenten give her a thumbs-up, and Hinata staring in outright amazement.

"Shut up," she muttered to them, still blushing. Looking up, she caught Sasuke's eye. Naruto was still talking at him, but he seemed to have been distracted by what had just taken place. Sakura couldn't tell if Sasuke was relieved, rueful, or uninterested, but for once, he was looking at her. And for once, she didn't even care.

She was done feeling rejected by him.

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**A/N:**

**Just a fluffy, little one-shot piece for all fellow crack pairing lovers…**

**After rewriting this story lately, I've been thinking that I might want to turn it in to a longer story, though – maybe just a two-shot or something? Eh. I'm not sure. I'll just mark as a complete story for now.**

**ShikaSaku is one of my favorite couples, and I've been working on a lot of different stories for them, but I don't seem to get anywhere… I'm working on a multi-chapter story for them at the moment that I'm really hoping I get to finish. Like everything else I come up with, it's been a looong time in the making… Until then, I humbly offer up this piece of silliness. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**(And yes, I know that SasuSaku and ShikaTema are canon now – but I still enjoy writing up stories for alternate couples. Plus, I like SasuSaku and ShikaTema just fine, too - although, it probably doesn't always seem like that with all the Sasuke bashing - so I'm happy either way!)  
**

**EDIT: Is it just me, or do mistakes tend to hide from you, right until you publish a story, and then they suddenly come barging out at you from every other paragraph? Apologies for any mistakes still hiding in here somewhere...**


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